The PIA plane, which was flying from Karachi to Bahawalpur, was forced to land after there were threats of a hijacking.
Express News correspondent Aftab Khan reported that the flight, PK-586, had taken off from Jinnah International Airport at 1:09pm.
A passenger on board the flight had informed the staff that he could hijack the plane. The captain was immediately informed about the development, who spoke to the control tower to inform them that he wants to bring the plane back to Karachi.
The plane, which had over 50 passengers on board, landed back in Karachi at 1:40pm and the passenger was taken into custody by the ASF for interrogation.
Express News reported that the passenger who had made the hijacking threat had said that he was joking with the air hostess.
A passenger on board the flight, identified as Dr Samina, said that the captain or airhostesses had not informed them that there was a hijack threat.
She said that the passenger had gone to the washroom when he had spoken to the airhostess. No sign of confrontation was reported and the passengers were not aware of what had been going on.
All passengers inside the plane were reported to be safe.
COMMENTS (50)
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Atleast the unknown guy made the news.
Had the airport security failed? If the alleged hijacker was joking, he now knows what a price he will have to pay!
@Shiraz: what did this story have to do with pti getting elected?? ur comment was totally out of context.
yaar the air hostess wasn't letting him use the washroom, so he said he'd hijack the plane and then go..... she didn't let him use it cause plane was taking off or something
i dont understand why do PTI chamchas have to drag PTI in each & every topic... geesh...
Sorry, my bad, got a little confused from Dawn's article on the same. I guess I was sleepy. PIA is so awesome in choosing planes.
PIA should be renamed to P.K.I.A
Hahaha….See that why it…..suggested not to share everything with female or be more funny and free….how can keep something secret , spreading news more faster than electronic media.@Talib Haider: The article does not mention the type of aircraft.
This is nothing..... I see more frequent comedies on domestic U.S flights where a plane is returned, parked outside the runway and attacked by SWAT teams only to pull out a troll like him, or a couple of fighting chicks, an air hostess teaser, a disgruntled airline employee, a chef or butcher who can't let go his valuable knives, a fat man who won't fit in the latest narrow & small seats, a guy who touched a sleeping female passenger, a popular actor who drank too much etc etc.All passengers still must inform the crew of anything suspicious. Above all, for the safety of passengers in the current environment it's not a huge price to pay. By the way, why then PIA didn't hand'em over at the Multan Airport, he was tied-up wasn't he? Or there was no point where you took the plane a hijacker still could be dangerous. After all we do have secret service on PIA flights all the time to apprehend such trouble makers. All must know there is no such "Jokes" allowed anymore. This person must spend atleast a week in jail for a good lesson and the trouble all went through.
That's a standard operating procedure, if there is any threat, it's taken seriously, don't criticize everything, pilot did the right thing
Everything is possible in pakistan and india :D
What a friendly hijacker, rather jocker
Some people dont have the knowledge here, the incident involved an ATR plane, the image is of an Airbus plane that were used by PIA in the 90s. The cockpit was not opened. The crew did an excellent work, hats off. The passenger was a mentally unstable person who might be flirting with the air hostess by telling her that he is so powerful to hijack the plane though in the end he got what he deserved..
PIA authorities should make it a point to prewarn passengers that any loose talk and use of provocative words during flight or in the airport premises would entail immediate action.Our uninformed people sometime become indiscreet in an attempt to strike a friendly tete-a-tete and land themselves in trouble.This passenger may not be aware of the financial and mental cost he caused to the nation through his bravado.For a while, the whole nation,already bruised badly recently, held its breath for fear of another tragedy to befall it.As such, there must be some penalty for such action to restrain people to play with the emotions of the nation.
It was an ATR ! The picture shown here is not of the plane involved.
Is anyone paying attention here? What is a 777 doing carrying 50 passengers? This plane has a capacity of over 300!
God help PIA!
An example should be created of out of this incident. This joker shouldn't be allowed to travel in air for the next 5 years.
I have traveled a number of times in International flights and have seen incidents where our locals try to develop frankness with the female flight attendants. We have too many sick individuals in our nation I guess. And believe me, I have never seen a Mullah doing so :p, and neither have I seen educated people doing so.
Such people are usually Wannabes ...
That is the level of us - Pakistani Nation!
How can people be so stupid? He should be barred from air travel for a good number of years. BTW the captain of the flight did the right thing by not letting others know what was happening (to avoid unnecessary panic) and to land the plane back.
Idiocy at its best: Why was cockpit door opened at first place? The guy was joking. Where is the the sense of humour of stupid crew? Yes please start "Blame the Zardari game" & "Vote for PTI" games. You got golden opportunity.
For all those critics i will say it's better to delay than taking the risk. We have the results of taking risks in the form of Airblue and Bhoja accidents
People would be more careful in annoying air hostesses in the flight. Correct me if I'm wrong but I think the photo of PIA plane is a little old !! didn't they change the colour of the planes ??
@Mohammad Ali Siddiqui: "This is the first time in my life I am reading ......" Wow! It's never, too, late! by the how late is it in your case?
all those criticizing this need to know that the Pilot & Crew took the rite step and we need to be extra vigilant during these hard times..
good for the PIA crew they will get the overtime.
@JAM: Plz don't blame the nation. Its people like you, having this luxury of reading English Paper online, who have a habbit of complaining all the time. I still believe, as a nation, majority of our people (Labourers, Peasants, etc) are very hard working, honest and lovable. GET A LIFE, man.
this shows sick mind of our nation. we are mentally corrupt.
Its a bit late for april fool.
What an idiot...
Should be asked to pay all the revenue lost/ cost incurred...
It's better tobe safe than sorry. Jokes like these are not excepted.
Ha ha ha Ha
Bad judgement call because no serious hijacker will announce this intentions, but then it is better to be safe than sorry. I hope the guy is not let off lightly.
This was mere a threat by a passenger to hijack the plane on its way to Bahawalpur, which forced the pilot to land at Karachi International Airport at about 1:41 pm .By the grace of Allah Almighty, everything is safe and sound at the flight as well as at Karachi airport where the passengers currently are.
LOL ! what was that drama ?
poor traveler
Welcome to Pakistan
That passenger must be out of his mind or something!! !
Pakistan should launch a Camel Service!
Did the passenger inform he could hijack the plane or he tried to hijack?
dumb ppl wasting time by such threats
..........PIA stands for "Please inform Allah" .....
Proactive.. Passenger informed Crew member that he will hijack the plane....
..........whatever the reason may be, PIA always have justifications of delaying the flight ..... PIA stands for "Please inform Allah" .... :P
This is the first time in my life I am reading that a prospective hijacker has informed the staff that he intend to hijack the plane, otherwise, in hijacking cases, people don't inform the fligh crew, they go and hijack the plane.
I don't understand as what kind of threat the unknown passenger made during the flight so that he should be arrested.
He should be sent for medical examination to determine if he has a sound mind?
This country is heading into total anarchy. And i blame our rulers (specially PPP) for this, when the rulers can't respect the law then how do they expect normal citizens to do so? For God's sake people, do anything you can to make sure that PTI wins the next election, its time that we put aside our petty differences and work together for a common goal, a better Pakistan for us and our children.